Finally, Delhi govt allocates rooms in 5 hotels, Gujarati Samaj for LNJP nurses on Covid-19 duty     

Almost three weeks after the nurses of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital in Delhi began demanding separate sanitised accommodation for those on Covid-19 duty, 100 rooms in five hotels in Karol Bagh and 72 rooms at the Gujarati Samaj in Civil Lines have been allocated for the nurses. The government ceded to the request after the nurses and para-medical staff went on a protest at the hospital.

The notice which was sent out on April 12, 2020, the health secretary states that 100 rooms have been allocated at Southern Regency on Abdul Rehman Road, Southern Regency on Arya Samaj Road, South Indian Hotel, Hotel Sunshine and Jyoti Deluxe. All of them are in Karol Bagh.

On April 9, all the nursing staff who were not on duty gathered in front of the administrative block at LNJP Hospital as an LNJP nursing officer, who was posted in a COVID-19 positive ward and was also residing at the Dental block, was admitted in the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. The Delhi government had arranged for Lalit Hotel to accommodate the doctors but overlooked the nurses.

On April 9, all the nursing staff who were not on duty gathered in front of the administrative block at LNJP Hospital as an LNJP nursing officer, who was posted in a COVID-19 positive ward and was also residing at the Dental block, was admitted in the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. The Delhi government had arranged for Lalit Hotel to accommodate the doctors but overlooked the nurses.

Soon after the protest, the government stated that 72 rooms would be provided at Guajarat Samaj. “We were told that the rooms would be on double occupancy, so that mean 144 people would be accommodated at Gujarati Samaj. There will be at least 1400 nurses on Covid-19 duty and immediately there would be at least 700 nurses on duty. So, after Gujarati Samaj, 100 rooms in five hotels have been allotted. However, even this would not be enough. The government has stated that they would allocate more hotel rooms,” said Jeemol Shaji, general secretary of the Delhi State Hospital’s Nurses Union.

Before the accommodation was allotted, the nurses were staying in a hall at the Dental Hospital on the LNJP campus. More than 30 beds were set up for them, with only two bathrooms and no specific changing rooms. The building has just been constructed and one open floor is being used for accommodating nurses after their shifts.

“Sometimes there are nine of us in a room and we have to share just one bathroom. The government did not care about our health. If we fall ill, then who will take care of the patients. Many of us chose not to live in that dental hospital because we would have fallen ill. The government gave only doctors accommodation, but our needs were overlooked?” pointed out a nurse who did not want to be identified.

A deputy nursing superintendent and an assistant nursing superintendent of LNJP hospital and two nurses of the Delhi State Cancer Institute (DSCI) have tested positive for COVID-19. The assistant nursing superintendent’s husband and daughter have also tested positive. Two assistant nursing superintendents have been sent to quarantine as they showed Covid-19 symptoms.

In Delhi, there are 1,154 coronavirus cases of which 28 persons have been discharged and 24 have died. On April 12, 85 new cases were reported and 83 are under observation.